


a journey i just don't have a map for

by song_of_staying



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space Opera, Androids, Best Friends, Declarations Of Love, Dystopia, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Addiction, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Marriage Proposal, Multi, Power Imbalance, Sedoretu, Sexuality Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 01:26:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11979192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/song_of_staying/pseuds/song_of_staying
Summary: Jade and John propose, but they don't receive the immediate yes that they expected. Rose and Dave freak out, and try not to ruin everything.A story about making marriage work, even before it starts.[A sedoretu is, in this case, a four-person marriage, based on worldbuilding by Ursula K. Le Guin.]





	a journey i just don't have a map for

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [Sedoretu_Fic_Fest](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Sedoretu_Fic_Fest) collection. 



> **Prompt:**  
>  Prospit and Derse are clearly separate moieties. A Beta Kids sedoretu isn't compatible with the endgame relationships, so some sort of AU is required.
> 
> John and Jade know exactly what they want, and set out to get it. Rose and Dave are more skeptical; Dave because why would anybody, far less two somebodies, want to put up with him, and Rose because John is the only one with a solid parental role model, and are the rest of them even capable of sustained relationships?
> 
> I tend to think that historical AUs are best AUs (Prohibition? Regency? Heian Japan? In Spaaaace?) but anything that sounds like fun to you is going to be great.

Jade’s garden is still in hibernation. She checks all the sensors, twice, but there is nothing that needs her attention. She could sit in a pod and just leave, and everything would go on fine without her.

She should have picked out a cactus or something, to keep her company outside of the vegetation dome. She loves having something to take care of. She even misses the time when Bec still needed feeding. Maybe there’s something wrong with her. 

Like always, thinking about Bec seems to summon him. He lays his head on her lap. His metal frame is cold and unyielding, she can feel it even through his fur and the fabric of her skirt. His eyes are big and sad. He knows she’s upset, and doesn’t know how to help. She kind of wants to take him down to the brig, to howl at the stars together. There’s a sting at the edge of her eyes. She wishes she could just cry.

Her communicator clangs heavily, and she puts on her headphones. She really, really hopes it’s John.

JOHN: hi. 

JADE: hey

JOHN: do you think rose and dave are okay?

JADE: i dont know :\

JOHN: this is a disaster. a disasteroid collision.

JADE: we fucked up!! and i dont know how and why

JADE: and i think we need to apologize :\ but i dont feel like talking to them yet

JOHN: yeah. they didn’t say no!

JADE: :\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ i think they were just letting us down gently

JOHN: maybe. they were both pretty freaked out.

JADE: i know

JOHN: but i talked to my dad, and he said we should have waited for them to propose.

JADE: ugh!!! why?

JOHN: “Son, some Traditions are in Place for a Reason.” and he got me thinking…

JADE: … ? …?!!?!?!!!!!

JOHN: you know how the derse fleet is held together by duct tape basically, and their rations are even worse than ours?

JADE: i guess?? roses ship looks really nice though

JOHN: i think rose’s mom has some kind of secret job we’re not supposed to know about? but rose still eats worse than we do, and she doesn’t get to see the stars.

JADE: her mom is either a writerdroid or an assassin or both

JADE: daves bro has a job on the side too but i guess he spends anything he earns on shitty ray guns

JADE: but all this just means we need to marry them asa freaking p!!!!! and then get them fed up and show them the stars

JADE: … “show them the stars” :o

JOHN: :0

JADE: :OOO

JOHN: i agree! but dad says it’s always been like that with derse, they just get less resources than we do. so when they get married, they kind of move up in the world, right? 

JADE: so do we!! thats the point of getting married

JOHN: but they move up more than we do.

JADE: okay

JADE: and??

JOHN: and they are supposed to stay kind of

JOHN: grateful

JOHN: to the prospit half of the marriage, and they should follow our decisions, “evening always follows morning” blah blah lalala. 

JADE: okaaaay

JADE: no offence to your dad, but this all sounds like old fashioned dogshit to me

JOHN: yeah.

JOHN: but now that he said it, i can’t stop thinking about it.

JOHN: they’re supposed to be the ones who propose because they choose who to “follow”, or whatever.

JOHN: what if they think we’re not fit for that?

JADE: …

JADE: that

JADE: is the stupidest thing ive ever heard!!!!!!!

JOHN: heh.

JADE: we need to convince them we are good at it

JOHN: what are we good at?

JADE: at knowing them!!!!!!!!

JADE: and we need to talk to them before their shitty guardiandroids convince them they cant trust us like that

JOHN: okay. so we just need to tell them we do pay attention.

JADE: and we need to get rose to stop overthinking it and get dave to stop worrying!

JOHN: piece of space pie, right? :B

* * *

Dave’s bro’s got the kitchen on lockdown again.

The last time he did this, it was because he was making some kind of chemical weapon for those pirates Dave wasn’t allowed to see. (Not that he wanted to. From what he heard from his sleeping cell, this was decidedly not the cool or noble kind of pirate.) The time before that, though, he just did it to fuck with Dave.

The pile of rations Dave keeps under his mattress is depleting at high velocity. He's still got some of the banana fudge John sent him. At the time, he couldn’t believe the credits that kid spent on stupid gifts, but right now he just feels really fond of the stupid kid’s stupid face, and his stupid outdated model dad, with the stupid malfunctioning baking subroutines. 

He wonders how many times Bro has modified his own core programming. He wonders if it was fucked from the beginning.

He’s heading towards the ugliest kind of self-pity, so he takes his communicator - no new messages, sure, of course - and he pings Rose.

DAVE: hey

ROSE: No, I haven’t heard from either of them yet.

DAVE: did i ask though

ROSE: No, I don’t think they hate us.

DAVE: again

DAVE: i did not ask

DAVE: i wasnt going to ask

DAVE: i got 99 conversation topics and they aint one

ROSE: My apologies.

DAVE: obviously they dont hate us

DAVE: egbert is incapable of hating anything except the waterbitch and also bad candy

ROSE: And we are safe in the buffer zone between the e/mp//ress and con/trab/and Gushers?

DAVE: exactly

DAVE: he goes big or he goes hilariously small

DAVE: btw i hope you know how annoying that censoring shit is

ROSE: I do.

DAVE: you know it doesnt really work right

ROSE: I know. But if I don’t take this wholly unnecessary and archaic precaution against survei//llance, my mom (hi mom!) will subject me to her se/di/t//ious mo//ther-d/aught/er b/ond/ing reg/i//me.

DAVE: hahaha

DAVE: does she actually read your conversations

ROSE: We will never know.

DAVE: ok so 

DAVE: jade doesnt hate us either

DAVE: right

ROSE: I will accept Jade hating us over Jade getting lost in her Virtual Realities again.

DAVE: its not her fault her cryochamber is fucking buggy

DAVE: id get lost in vrs too if it meant getting some rest for once

ROSE: I know. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for her.

ROSE: But I can imagine wanting to mentally escape your ship by any means available. My methods were more embarrassing, but at least I always woke up the next morning, hangover notwithstanding. Jade used to disappear for weeks. 

DAVE: yeah

ROSE: It started getting worse, before she stopped cold turkey. And now we upset her really badly, exactly as we had intended to avoid. 

DAVE: so

DAVE: are we actually big enough fuckups to cause her to relapse

ROSE: I don’t know.

DAVE: we need to apologize but

DAVE: we still dont have an answer for them

DAVE: right

ROSE: Not as such, no.

* * *

It’s Scrabble night, so John decides to leave his dad alone.

His dad’s fedora friends are mostly guardiandroids too, so it’s not like they don’t understand when his dad leaves mid-game to help John out with something. But John already got a a lot of good advice from him about this. John does know how to start fixing this whole thing, he’s basically just putting it off because it’s scary and awkward. But if he’s going to be married, he’s going to have scary and awkward decisions to make every day. Obviously Dad’s coming with him - John made sure he had the funds to keep him years ago - but things are still going to change.

There’s a rotating marquee on his desktop screen, and it says “I am Proud of You, Son.”

All John needs to do is to talk to his friends. That’s one thing he’s always been good at.

 

JOHN: hi rose!

ROSE: Hi.

JOHN: how are things?

ROSE: Things are suspended in a state of zero-G paralysis, and I am trying to write you a letter.

JOHN: how’s that going?

ROSE: Not too badly. There are seven paragraphs and two footnotes so far.

JOHN: cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ROSE: You sound disproportionately excited. You’ve received letters from me before. Occasionally, there were even footnotes.

JOHN: well, yeah.

JOHN: i just think that not even you have the ability to stretch out “I don’t want to marry you, the answer is no.” over seven paragraphs.

ROSE: No, it’s not a Dear John letter in the classical sense.

JOHN: right! and anything else, i can work with.

ROSE: I take it that, from your end, the proposal is still open?

JOHN: yeah, and it’s staying that way.

JOHN: it’s open from jade’s end too, not that you were going to ask.

ROSE: You’re right, I wasn’t.

JOHN: :B

JOHN: so i’ll just wait for my letter, i guess?

ROSE: I want to try to explain some of the shit that makes this potential marriage more complicated than you might realize.

JOHN: how much of the shit?

ROSE: Approximately 30%.

JOHN: impressive!!!

JOHN: you know, i don’t mind waiting.

JOHN: but maybe talking about it will uncomplicate your thirty per cent of manure? i can play the therapist this time. i don’t have a fake beard, but this fake mustache should be just as good? you just lie on your back and think about your most embarrassing childhood memory.

ROSE: John

JOHN: ?

ROSE: You know I love you, right?

JOHN: brb screencapping. this baby’s going directly on my trophy shelf.

ROSE: (I still can’t believe your dad built you a trophy shelf. And then made you trophies to put on it.)

JOHN: (he likes making things with his hands!)

ROSE: But I can’t love you the way I love Jade.

JOHN: uh, sure? you love her in a supergeniuses in love way, you love me in a making fun of my impeccable movie taste kind of way.

ROSE: And I promise to cherish your impeccable movie taste until the day we all die. But if we were married, our Evening marriage would have to be substantially different from my Day marriage.

JOHN: wait.

JOHN: is this about your girl thing?

ROSE: My “girl” thing?

JOHN: the thing where you like girls but you probably don’t really like guys, in a way where you’d want to, you know, sleep with us? i thought we already settled that whole thing, but i guess we never really talked about it.

ROSE: What makes you think that I have a “girl” thing?

JOHN: well

JOHN: you made me read an entire hexadecimalogy

ROSE: It’s just called a book series, John.

JOHN: an *entire* hexadecimalogy about shapeshifting wizards. and out of the 64 main characters, you liked the ones who were girls, and you liked castor silverfin.

JOHN: and what you looooved about castor silverfin was that he only had the hots for women. and then you kept asking if i thought there was something wrong with him, and i kept saying i thought it was fine. and then you concluded that even if you could find a diagnosis that fit him, he was objectively right to ignore russel, because peonie and lammia were both objectively more bangable, qed.

ROSE: This was five years ago, and you are oversimplifying my position. Also, “had the hots”, is that what the cool kids of Prospit are calling it?

JOHN: yeah! :P

ROSE: I must alert Dave immediately.

JOHN: but i got it right, right? you’re castor the dolphin-shifter. i’m russel the weresquirrel.

ROSE: You are considerably less obnoxious than Russel. But yes.

JOHN: okay

ROSE: Okay?

JOHN: okay, i already assumed that was how it was gonna be?

ROSE: I see.

JOHN: … it might have been better to actually say that out loud at some point, huh.

ROSE: It would have saved me seven torturous paragraphs, yes.

JOHN: sorry. <3

ROSE: But

ROSE: this is a writing project I do not mind scrapping. Thank you for your cooperation.

JOHN: you don’t have to throw the whole letter away! Maybe you can use parts of it in the wedding speech? :B

JOHN: i know you’ve still got 70% shit to get through. but me and my fake moustache are here for you.

ROSE: <3.

* * *

JADE: hey

DAVE: hi jade

DAVE: jade

DAVE: jade

DAVE: jade

DAVE: my fucking bro needed me in the brig for training

DAVE: hes got the worst timing and he fried my ass too

DAVE: i wasnt ignoring you on purpose

DAVE: im sorry

DAVE: wow look at all that high-grade artisanal groveling

DAVE: available here for a limited time only

DAVE: until he orders me back to the brig i guess

JADE: hey

JADE: i figured you were busy with him!! hows your ass?

DAVE: pert and ready to roll

JADE: :P i meant, did he injure you?

DAVE: uh no

DAVE: its fine its just a graze

DAVE: id say my reflexes are improving but really its his ray guns getting shittier every year

JADE: hehehe

JADE: you know how i killed my grandpa?

DAVE: … 

DAVE: … by accident yeah

JADE: yeah!

JADE: im just saying, ive got some experience in getting rid of guardiandroids

JADE: i also have a lot of untraceable robots!

DAVE: jade

DAVE: are you ok

JADE: sure

JADE: but ive been thinking

JADE: i always assumed it would be enough to just marry you and then tell your bro to take his shitty “training” and his smuppets and shove the whole thing up his metallic ass

JADE: but 

JADE: we dont need to be married for that!!!!

JADE: if you want, i can get him off your back right now

JADE: and then i *hope* youll want to marry us, but either way you wont have to deal with him anymore

DAVE: jade

DAVE: i dont know what to say

DAVE: … that was hot

JADE: thank you!! <3

DAVE: but i thought you thought i thought bro was cool

JADE: you stopped pretending three years ago

DAVE: i thought you thought he was cool

JADE: no. 

DAVE: okay

JADE: do you remember when we were thirteen, and he shoved you out of the brig and kept you floating in space for a whole day?

JADE: and when you told us you made it sound like some crazy psychedelic adventure?

DAVE: that is definitely a thing i have not forgotten 

JADE: i tried it!

DAVE: what

JADE: you said it was fun, so i tried it

DAVE: ffuck

JADE: we were fourteen

DAVE: im so sorry

JADE: i told bec to reel me in 12 hours later

JADE: but he only waited 8

JADE: my dog has better judgment than your bro

DAVE: were you okay?

JADE: yeah!

JADE: i slept through a lot of it

JADE: but it was boring and scary and *really* lonely

JADE: and i just kept thinking about how you never shut up

JADE: so you probably just muttered to yourself the whole time

JADE: and your fleets stuck on the dark side so there werent even any stars to keep you company

JADE: and i dont know if this makes your decision easier or harder but

JADE: i dont want you be alone like that ever again

JADE: so thats how i feel about things!!!!!!!!!!!!

DAVE: ok

DAVE: how i feel about things is i need to talk to rose 

DAVE: and i might love you or something idk

JADE: ok!! see you soon :D

* * *

The only thing in Rose’s room that doesn’t have sensors on it is the miniature chrysanthemum she got from Jade. At the time, Rose fretted about the cost of shipping a living organism between fleets, and it didn’t even occur to her to see it as a courting gift.

It’s a beautiful flower, petals ranging from white to fuchsia. It reminds her of her own brief obsession with fractal art. Jade was the only one who didn’t flee upon hearing the word algorithm. It was probably the first thing they’d ever shared between themselves, without the boys as go-betweens.

Rose has been an idiot. It’s sort of surprising her mom isn’t around to tease her into saying it out loud.

Her communicator chimes, and she sighs in relief.

DAVE: jade still wants us

ROSE: John still wants us too.

DAVE: we are amazing catches

DAVE: so did you tell john about your mom

ROSE: I decided that can wait until the wedding night. Instead, we discussed all the sex we will not be having.

DAVE: ahaha fuck

DAVE: did that go okay

ROSE: It went more than okay. What about you?

DAVE: yeah i mean

DAVE has sent you a file titled ionlytakeproposalsintheformofdeaththreatsfromnowon.log

ROSE: Nice title.

DAVE: just listen

ROSE: … She is magnificent.

DAVE: i know

DAVE: rose

DAVE: rose are we doing this

ROSE: Our main argument was that they did not know what they were getting into, but they obviously do, at least to some extent.

ROSE: I think we should do this.

ROSE: The odds of bitter failure and resentment have never seemed so low.

DAVE: okay

DAVE: if we do fail we will still have each other

DAVE: … to blame i guess 

DAVE: or we can forge you a prospit passport and just run away together

ROSE: Clearly, the crux of the blame will lie on your inability to sexually fulfill John without my help. 

DAVE: sure yeah

DAVE: that or on your cra/z/y m/om

DAVE: :P

ROSE: To quote our future spouses, :P <3.

DAVE: go talk to your future wife

DAVE: ill go talk to my future husband

DAVE: quick before the novelty wears off

* * *

ROSE: Jade?

JADE: im here!

ROSE: Hi. I’m sorry it took us a while, but: yes. If the offer still stands, we’re saying yes.

JADE: :D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JADE: <3 <3

ROSE: I’m really looking forward to living with you.

JADE: im looking forward to living with *you*!!

JADE: for a couple of obvious reasons ;)

ROSE: For example?

JADE: for example……

JADE: …….

JADE: ….. i really like the way you made your ship beautiful. i remember how dark it used to be, but you filled it up with lamps and models and drawings, and made it into a whole new place. i want to live somewhere like that.

ROSE: I will keep that in mind. Or, actually, who would have thought, I seem to have some ideas already.

ROSE has sent you a file titled jadesroom.sim

JADE: rose this is amazing!!!!!!!!!

JADE: i wish i could give you this ring right now

ROSE: You bought the rings already?

JADE: johns dad did!! i guess hes way more romantic than he looks :)

ROSE: The ways that droid keeps exceeding his programming will never cease to amaze me.

JADE: i know :D

JADE: did you tell your mom?

ROSE: No. If she finds out in other ways, I will deal with her. But I would prefer to keep it to myself for now.

JADE: i would prefer to keep you to myself for now :D

ROSE: And how would you begin such a complex ownership process? 

JADE: i guess id start with building us a bed

JADE: its kind of like the one you designed for me but bigger

ROSE: Have you taught yourself carpentry as well as robotics?

JADE: i taught my robots carpentry! 

JADE: but i wont complain if you want to imagine me covered in sawdust

JADE: with my sleeves rolled up

JADE: hair tied up

JADE: little hand saw *vibrating* as it cuts through the fibers

JADE: of the real organic wood i ordered just for you

JADE: it’s probably ebony! 

JADE: and theres absolutely no catch to accepting this bed. its not a gift, its just shared property!!!

ROSE: I like that.

JADE: you’re not that complicated to please ;)

ROSE: I love you just for saying that.

JADE: <3

* * *

DAVE: john

JOHN: present!

DAVE: congratulations

DAVE: you are now the proud owner of not one but two weird assholes from derse

DAVE: your warranty expires in 72 hours 

DAVE: do not damage the merchandise or no takebacks

DAVE: why are you so quiet

JOHN: i’m just letting you do your spiel!

DAVE: my spiel was dead before it hit the ground

DAVE: so

JOHN: soooo

JOHN: heck yeah :D!!! these are the exact weird assholes i wanted.

JOHN: i’m going to take really good care of them.

JOHN: polish them every day.

JOHN: especially one of the two!

JOHN: no, wait, that’s weird, i want to rephrase.

DAVE: nope

DAVE: no takebacks

DAVE: that was right there in the contract

JOHN: damn!

DAVE: speaking of which let me just check if were on the same page here

DAVE: when exactly are we getting married

JOHN: literally the moment we land.

JOHN: so that’s like three weeks from now.

DAVE: you dont want to take us for a test drive first

JOHN: nope!

JOHN: i can take you to buy a suit first, if you want.

JOHN: or you can just borrow mine.

JOHN: if it was up to me, i’d just pluck you from the stratosphere and take you to the registry hog-tied and space-drunk.

DAVE: i love the way you always come close to good innuendo and then dont quite hit center

JOHN: i know you do :B

DAVE: it sort of is up to you though

JOHN: ehhhhhhh, no. 

JOHN: i don’t know yet how this is all going to work, but it’s not going to work like *that*.

DAVE: like its supposed to you mean

JOHN: exactly!

DAVE: you dont have to buy me a suit

DAVE: i already made one 

DAVE: i stole one of bros sewingbots

DAVE: legally speaking my sewingbot

JOHN: when?

DAVE: idk a year ago

JOHN: cool. can you show me?

JOHN: i haven’t seen a picture of you in too long.

DAVE: uh sure

DAVE: you can put it on your trophy shelf

JOHN: i already cleared a space for it. :D

* * *

They spend seven hours waiting in line at the Registry. They are only allowed to take two chairs, and John doesn’t want to think too closely about what that implies. In any case, they take turns with the chairs, and they’re loud enough to get reprimanded twice. It doesn’t matter. Dave can't seem to stop touching everyone. Rose is smiling in a way she never did in the pictures, fierce and unconcerned. Jade lets John braid her hair, which is a thing he practiced in advance, and she doesn’t doze off once. The two of them end up curled up in the same chair, and Rose takes the other one. Dave stretches out on the floor between them. He insists the carpet is way more comfortable and they are all missing out.

The ceremony doesn’t last too long, and nobody forgets their names or their vows. John’s careful not to grip anyone’s hand too tightly. Jade cries, just a little. Rose's speech is short, Dave doesn't even rap. It feels like a movie, maybe even like a VR, but the little details prove that it’s real. Rose’s hair shines fluorescent under the official purple lights, and she holds on to Dave like he’s a teddy bear. All the veins stand out on Dave’s hands, and he moves his chin in a particular way when he's trying not to smile. Jade moves through the crowd like a dancer, making space for them all without upsetting anyone. They get to their new ship before the last sun sets. Jade has the key, but her hands are stuck in Rose’s pockets. John thinks it might be cool to kiss Dave against the door, once they’re inside.

Howling fills the docking block, loud enough to make them all wince. It isn’t the usual siren, but the pattern is familiar from just about every movie John has ever seen: Alternia has surrendered, and the empress finally won.

“An auspicious beginning,” Rose mutters, and she almost sounds sincere about it. John squeezes her hand and she squeezes back.

“Let's get inside already,” says Jade, and she pulls on Dave's tie. It's John's tie, really, around Dave's neck. John forgets whatever he was going to say about the empress - he's not going to spend a single thought on politics until they depart tomorrow. 

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from Savage Garden's To the Moon and Back, because... we should all strive to be honest about what we love. :D


End file.
